Matthew’s on a roll with popular 'hoverboard' product

BUDERIM teen Matthew Wood, 14, has been inseparable from his hoverboard since he unwrapped the Christmas gift, his mum Wendy says.

"It's a lot of fun - it's awesome," she said. "He makes it look easy…it's like an extension of his feet.

"He uses it in the house - rides around on it cleaning his teeth."

Wendy said when researching hoverboards she was surprised at how many varieties there were, and had searched for weeks before finding one that "wasn't going to burn the house down".

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Also known as "smart scooters" or "self-balancing scooters", the motorised devices have two wheels and are controlled by tilting body weight.

Back to the Future enthusiasts have taken issue with the use of the term "hoverboard" - they have wheels and don't use magnetic levitation like true hoverboards - but Matthew says the experience is definitely like hovering.

Matthew used the device on footpaths to go to friends' houses and laughed at peoples' reaction when he glided by, he said.

He was surprised to learn that Queensland law classes hoverboards as personal mobility vehicles. Riders can cop fines for speeding, using mobile phones and not wearing helmets.

Children under 12 are not allowed to use them, and those between 12 and 15 need to be supervised at all times.

But grandmother and retired nurse Linda Cameron said hoverboards should be banned, and she would "never" allow her kids or grandkids to use them.

"It's a new invention and it's clever and everything, but what they don't realise is they've got no balance, nothing to hang on to, and the first thing they're going to do is go face down," she said.